St. Paul police ID woman found fatally shot in car; man arrested

Police cordon off the area where the woman was found in a car on a sidewalk near Robert and George streets.
(Pioneer Press: Kristi Belcamino)

Police found a young mother shot in a vehicle on St. Paul's West Side on Saturday night, and she died Sunday.

The investigation into the circumstances of 22-year-old British Morris-Rice's death continued Monday, police said.

Early Sunday, police arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of assault and aiding an offender to avoid arrest, a Ramsey County jail log showed.

Jody Ellis-Strong of St. Paul has not been charged. Police are "working through what role he may have played," said Howie Padilla, a St. Paul police spokesman.

Ellis-Strong's father said Monday that he doesn't know why his son was arrested, but he said the young man didn't shoot Morris-Rice, who was his girlfriend.

"I know that she was an innocent girl," said Frank Ellis. "I can't understand if these guys had a beef with Jody, why did they shoot at her?"

Morris-Rice was found shortly before midnight Saturday, when a St. Paul police officer spotted a vehicle on a sidewalk at Robert and George streets, Padilla said.

When the officer approached the vehicle, he found Morris-Rice, who was unresponsive, in the front seat. Paramedics treated her at the scene before she was taken to Regions Hospital, where she died Sunday afternoon.

Morris-Rice was sweet and friendly, said people who knew her. She had a 4-year-old daughter and graduated from Highland Park Senior High School, her Facebook page said.

On Saturday, Morris-Rice and Ellis-Strong were heading to or from the Robert Street Burger King when they ran into a group of males, and Ellis-Strong "got jumped," Ellis said of what his son told him.

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Ellis-Strong recognized the suspects from a confrontation in May, when he had tried to help his brother, Ellis said.

One of the males shot at Ellis-Strong when he was out of his vehicle, his father said.

Ellis-Strong shouted at Morris-Rice to drive away and tried to grab the gunman's arm to get the weapon away, Ellis said. Morris-Rice was making a U-turn when the gunman ran up to the vehicle and fired, according to Ellis.

Ellis-Strong ran away; he didn't know Morris-Rice had been shot, his father said. Morris-Rice apparently drove a short distance before the car crashed, Ellis said.

Ellis-Strong went back to the area to look for her, thinking she had gone to a friend's house, and encountered police, Ellis-Strong's father said.

One of Morris-Rice's friends, Megan Stamper, said she couldn't believe it when she heard she was dead.

Morris-Rice had a way of cheering people up, Stamper said.

"She always made people laugh," she said. "She was always there for people when they needed someone to talk to."